Dancing Words
by sciathan file
Summary: [Oneshot] To tell them the story properly she found she had to explain everything, slowly, rhythmically, as if the words danced from her mouth. Implied LaFarga x Caldina.


**Disclaimer:** I do not own Magic Knights Rayearth…it belongs to the lovely ladies of CLAMP.

**Dancing Words**

For Raburetta

Sciathan File

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When you do dance, I wish you

A wave o'th' sea, that you might ever do

Nothing but that…

Shakespeare's _Winter's Tale_ 4.4.140-2

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To tell them the story properly she found she had to explain everything, slowly, rhythmically, as if the words danced from her mouth.

The guise of storyteller and dancer are not very different.

She began by telling them that it all flows from the subtleties flowing under the surface and the illusions one weaves for one's audience.

"It is the small flick of a slender wrist, the way the fabric of one's wrap falls just so, highlighting the curve of a figure or masking another equally seductive movement. One also has to be mindful of the quiet metallic glimmer of earrings, and tassels, and jewels and the hypnotic effects these tones had when combined with music.

"Always, a dancer must create an illusion, an interwoven tapestry of intricacies that temporarily baffles the senses and confuses the watcher's sensibilities.

"For any Chizetan, dancing is an art unlike any other.

"Illusion and dance are intimately entwined with livelihood, protection, magic, love, life.

"Caldina had been aware of this fact from the very beginning of her life. She was not of a high caste within the regimented social hierarchy, she had no guardian djinn, and, from the very start of her life, she had no recourse to fall back on.

"Lacking any sort of upwards mobility within the caste system, Chizetans who did not wish to succumb to the cramped cities and small houses of the city slums had to make their way out. The only way to accomplish this was simply to paint a more elaborate picture with one's body than anyone else, show a more entrancing illusion, infuse a greater sense of vitality and life into one's steps. A Chizetan can never change their caste, but a dire situation could be improved with a plentiful influx of cash.

"And, Caldina had nothing if she did not have vitality and a sense of what would beguile her audience most and earn her the most money.

"The first real money she had ever earned came from a nervous man who compulsively bit down his nails to stubs. He owned a fairly famous troupe of dancers that included some of the most notorious illusionists of the district.

"He had happened upon her accidentally when he had gone into the marketplace to buy ingredients for a stew. Caldina was dancing, her long hair flowing loosely and her dirty, stained skirt brushing the floor and gathering a fine layer of brown dust. A pot was in front of her, with a pitiful amount of bronze coins nestled in the bottom.

"Despite her clothing and the setting she appeared in, she appeared like a fairy, and by the dazed look of her audience as they stared at her, almost fearing to blink, seemed to illustrate the effect of her fairy magic.

"However, despite her grace and subtlety, he wasn't initially interested in her. Talent, even of such a fine caliber, wasn't difficult to come by and was becoming difficult to pay for.

"The girl _did_ manage to catch his attention when she went chasing after a man who had stolen her pot of money. The illusion she pulled off and the abuse she did the man showed him that this girl had the mettle that was usually lacking in his rural discoveries.

"She danced with his company for years…."

Suddenly the story was interrupted.

" How did you finally get to Cephiro then?"

Caldina, after shaking a chastising finger at her listeners, flashed them an indulgent smile.

"Now, you hafta wait for me to get there." She leaned closer to them, hands on her hips in mock indignance, "Don't you have to get through the middle chapters of the story for it to make sense in the end?"

A member of her little audience pouted and looked belligerent.

Caldina laughed and winked, "I'll keep it shorter."

Her listener tried to hide his smile.

She resumed, spinning the tail as she had heard her mother do it, bringing the words dancing to life from her mouth.

"Caldina had danced with his company for many years, and made a good deal of money…but that never changed the fact that she would never be looked upon as more than a slightly wealthy peasant ('or,' she added glibly, 'the fact that Chizeta is simply too _puny_.')

"Skipping out of her contract, she had found the first place in which she would be able to leave the tiny, cluttered planet, and actually _see_ what lay outside of its borders."

"Mom, I'm _sleepy_, how did you get _here_?"

Her son was once again in a belligerent mood.

Caldina's expression soured.

"Well. I guess I'm gonna hafta tell you the _abbreviated_ version of the story, since you don't seem to be able to pay attention to the story of you own mother's life for more than five minutes."

Her son frowned, looking all the more dissatisfied.

"_Mom_, I do want to hear the story…just the _interesting_ parts!"

"Fine, fine, fine…disrespect you poor mother like that, but when you grow up and want to hear more from me…see if I tell you!"

She crossed her arms over her chest again, her expression exactly mirroring her sons.

LaFarga, holding their lightly sleeping daughter in his lap, had to keep from laughing at the antics of both his oldest son and his consort.

Pitting them both against him at that moment would not be a wise decision on his part…

Bickering set aside for a moment, Caldina began to finish up her bedtime story, although loosing her flair more and more as the story went on.

"So, anyways, after many _interesting_ adventures on other planets where she danced, Caldina finally arrived at Cephiro. Since I was out of money, I needed to find a job…

"That young looking old geezer agreed that he would take her on as a student. Cephiro's system, under the pillar, was determined by who had a strong will, and not who you were born to…so it was so much better than Chizeta.

"That Geezer had to explain everything to her, because she was used to making money, because she had needed to do so all her life, so when Zagato took over and the Magic Knights came, she stayed and used her illusions to stop them."

"You fought against the Magic Knights, mom?"

She waved the question off, "Money isn't worth that much here, it seems. Those little misses helped me figure that out."

She shrugged, but her son still seemed in awe of the fact that his mother had at one time fought the Legendary Magic Knights.

"Mommy," her little daughter murmured drowsily from Lafarga's lap, "Will you teach me to dance like you?"

She turned over, not conscious of the fact that she was talking and snuggled into her father's warmth.

Caldina smiled at Lafarga, he gave her a gentle nod.

"Well, that seems to be enough storytelling for tonight."

"But mom! You were just getting to the interesting parts!"

Caldina gave him a triumphant look, standing up from her seat on the bed and putting one slender finger to her son's lips.

She pulled the coverlet over the top oh him.

"But how did you meet dad?"

She smiled, mischievously at him, and then whispered, "next time."

He threw her a clearly dissatisfied look

Meanwhile, LaFarga had tucked their youngest into the bed, they both went to their own bedroom.

Caldina sat upon his lap, replacing her daughter. He kissed the top of her head.

"Are you going to tell them why you stayed on Cephiro?"

She kissed him back following with a playful little punch, "you don't need a story to see that!"

**Fin**

**A/N:** I wrote this a while ago as both a challenge fic (Caldina x LaFarga…with nail biting, English Literature, and a radio…I got everything except the radio) and an experiment. I hope you enjoyed it, though. Thank you for reading!


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